by Loni Lynne
"Yes, well, it's only temporary. I seem to have forgotten a few things." She could play the game, too.
"I like your dress. Did you make it?"
"Yes, matter of fact I did, recently."
He only nodded.
"So I'm assuming you're going to take me to Aiden," she said.
"I thought about it but no." He studied his neat manicure. "I decided there are certain privileges to having rank. You see, I've been climbing this 'chain of command' to get where I want to be. It's all about leverage and having the insight to use it at the apropos time."
"So you're blackmailing, Aiden Vamier?" Marilyn cocked her brow at him and shook her head. "Not a real smart thing to do if you ask me."
"He seems to think you're rather important. He sent his best troops out to hunt you down more than once, and rumor has it, none of the young vamps can touch you without dying a quick death. I wonder why?"
"Beats the hell out of me." It baffled her, too. And by the way he leered at her, Gerlich looked eager to see if he was immune to her touch. "Care to see for yourself?"
Gerlich laughed. The creep even had a rich sounding laugh that could turn a woman on. Damn shame.
"I like you, Miss Reddlin. You have spirit and sass. There is no fear in you."
Damn. Good thing he couldn't read her mind. Her insides were beginning to take on a fight or flight adrenaline rush as he stalked closer.
He stood within her private space. She could see the minute details in the smoothness of his pale features, the prominent shape of his Adam's apple, the short hairs framing his forehead. Scrawny, pale and charming—did he sparkle, too?
Gerlich caressed her face with his palm, his thumb tracing back and forth across her mouth. Her lips twitched and her nose wrinkled but not in involuntary pleasure. His touch set off something lurking deep inside of her. She stared into his eyes and saw an image of the torture Draylon had endured at his hands.
"Where is he?" she questioned in a low tenor.
"Who?" he replied innocently.
"What did you do to Draylon?"
"I put him out of his centuries of misery. It's kind of refreshing to know I am the one who did away with Rick Delvante's famous pet. And now, I feel the need to make even a bigger deal over removing his new one."
His mouth came down as if to kiss her only he went for her throat at last minute, latching on with his razor sharp fangs.
Marilyn went wild. Fear exchanged places with anger. Anger turned into energy, energy that streamed through her veins and every biological system she could fathom. She saw the wolf, witnessed the bobcat form cross her internal vision but what came next was magnificent and frightening. The creature she'd been recently in her dreams. She accepted it, coming to realize what she was all about. She was a Zmeu!
Gerlich hung on, drawing on her life blood even as her body grew and morphed. Scales the color of garnet replaced skin, her hands elongated into thin, finger-like claws curling under in deadly looking sickles. Her shoulders pressed against the wide width of the corridors and took up the height of the chapel-styled rafters.
Plucking Gerlich off of her, she flicked him down the length of the hallway like a piece of lint. Now she was the stalker. She picked him up, shook him awake, no doubt addling his brain if he had any ounce of mortality.
"Where is Draylon?" Her human voice bellowed off the walls in a guttural bass.
"Fuck! What the hell…" He squirmed like a worm on a hook.
She turned, taking out the walls on her way and threw him down back the way they came. The momentum and acrobatic spins he took were definitely more like bowling but instead of pins falling, the roof fell in as the stone walls and plaster ceiling caved in around them, burying Gerlich.
He still hadn't complied, and she couldn't get a good bead on Draylon. Short of tearing down the fortress, she needed him to confess.
Unearthing her nemesis from the rubble and tucking him under her wing, Marilyn went on a rampage through the thousand year old fortress. Nothing stood in her way. She could get used to this.
Dawn had broken and she unearthed vampires who'd only recently called it a night to avoid the power of the sun god. She exposed them to the old god. The echo of hisses and screams as the smell of burning flesh filled the morning air only intensified her hunt.
Looking back the way she'd come, Marilyn realized she'd destroyed one whole wing of the ancient fortress without any sight of Draylon. She lifted her wing, exposing her cargo to say hello to Derzelas, the sun god. He might be able to help her out.
Gerlich screamed like a girl as sunlight streamed over him before she blocked the light with her body.
"You have one last chance to tell me before I fry you like the worm you are—Where is Draylon?"
He coughed from the burning in his lungs. "Beneath the dungeon in the north wing…the oubliette…"
Lumbering through the courtyards, her tail slammed into everything within its path as she made her way to the north wing, Gerlich hanging on for dear life.
With the strength of a massive bulldozer she ransacked the wing, exposing more victims to their sunlit fate. She didn't care. Her only thoughts were on Draylon.
"There!" Gerlich gasped out as he pointed to the iron disc on the stone floor. "He's in there."
Picking up the heavy cover as if it was a mere dime, she flung it, taking off the head of one of the nearby statues. The hole in the ground was much too small though. She bent her head down to peek one massive eyeball into the dark pit but couldn't see anything at all. Frustrated, she clawed at the ground. Rocks and earth flew in every which direction as her angry breath came out in steaming dew.
She'd managed to dig out the large clearing, no longer the shape of a narrow necked vase but that of a huge bowl. Draylon lay naked, curled up among tattered remains of clothing. Marilyn had never seen him so vulnerable. She nudged him with her snout. But there was no response. She tried to get to him mentally, to no avail.
Was she too late? Impossible, he was immortal.
A cacophony of sounds alerted her to the presence of others. Vehicles in various modes surrounded her and the rubble. A man stepped out of a black stretch limo with a slow grace as he stared up at her in awe.
"M…m…Marilyn? What the hell…"
He looked around as his crew of white lab coat physicians stepped in to see to Draylon's prone form. Her instincts kicked in, wanting to protect Draylon from anyone's touch but hers.
The rumble of motorcycles pulled onto the scene. Kurren and Therron took off their helmets and stood back mesmerized, and her mother stood, gawking in paralyzed fear. Therron turned to help a passenger in Kurren's sidecar, a hunched over form hitting at him as if she didn't want his help. But he helped her remove her helmet and Nonni stood there like she expected the whole thing.
But her mother only stared up at her, not having a clue who or what she was.
"What's going on here?" Nonni patted her mother reassuringly.
Diane walked over to Rick. "Is this who I think it is?"
"Depends on who you think it is. The red scales and green gem in her forehead is a dead ringer to me." Rick sighed.
"Marilyn!" Diane screamed upon realizing the truth.
Chapter Nineteen
Marilyn sat in the isolated clinic room awaiting Rick Delvante's arrival. After shifting back into her human form, she'd been poked and prodded by a team of specialists who she would have thought were more vampire for all the blood they'd taken from her.
She wanted to see Draylon or at least know of his condition. He'd been so still when she'd found him. Even after the team was finally able to move him, they wouldn't let her near. They had every right to protect him. She was a monster. How did you explain to someone you've fallen in love with that you're a freak of nature? Shifting into a wolf was one thing—a fire breathing dragon? Well, not many people would understand that.
Her mother had not taken it well. She'd passed out in Ron's arms.
But she'd given birth to her. Wouldn't she be aware of her condition? Wasn't it in her DNA? Someone had to have known something about her biological make-up?
She shivered. The thick spa robe they'd given her after her examination was warm enough in the chilly room, but it wasn't the cold she felt. The energy and uncertainty flowing through her had her shaking. Was she in shock?
Nah. People shift into weird creatures all the time. They also fell in love with werewolves and get attacked by vampires. Why in God's name would she be in shock?
Her teeth clattered together, and she huddled into a ball on the narrow examination bed. She wanted to run. She wanted to stay. Closing her eyes tightly against all the wild energy inside of her, she forced her body to try to calm itself, remembering lessons from her Tai-Chi and Karate classes in relaxation.
Visions of her creatures played havoc on her mind, each one trying to dominate the other. Her body twitched and quaked with each snarl, growl or screech.
The door flew open and so did her eyes. Rick Delvante strolled in along with a team of white lab coat specialists who'd been with her earlier.
"Marilyn?" He looked up at the doctors. "What's wrong with her?"
"We don't know. She's showing signs of fatigue, but her adrenaline levels are off the chart. Here are her most recent vital signs." The doctor handed him a chart. He looked it over and nodded before handing it back.
"Give us a few minutes, please." Rick sighed.
The medical team nodded and left the room. Marilyn didn't feel like talking, thinking or socializing right now. But she didn't struggle as Rick picked her up in his arms and adjusted her so she could curl into his chest.
He took her out another door. One she hadn't seen behind her. It led into a neutral painted hallway with white trim. Wonderful aromas of essence oils filled the air. Within moments she was lowered gently onto a chaise lounge and wrapped in a warm blanket. Light classical music drifted around her.
"I hate white sterile rooms. But they needed it for the examination," he said as he pulled up a plush winged-back chair beside her and perched on the edge of the seat, his hands folded together as if settling in to discuss serious issues.
"What…what is wrong with me?" Marilyn found the voice to speak.
"I was about to ask you the same question, but I know exactly what's wrong with you now." He smiled reassuringly. "I should have known. I should have trusted your mother when she told me…but I guess I just didn't want to believe it for myself."
"I don't know what you are talking about?"
"Your mother told me she was pregnant after we'd married. She said it was mine. I should have believed her."
"Wait? But you're Rick Delvante…my father was Richard Reddlin?
"I used Richard Reddlin as my alter ego. I met your mother for the first time when she was being interviewed for her first position at Livedel. I fell head over heels the instant I saw her through the two-way glass. So I followed her after she left, met her on the Metro Red Line and sat next to her.
"I followed her home—"
"You stalked my mother?"
"No…wait, let me finish." Rick sat back in the chair. "Well…actually, maybe I did." He amended.
"The Red Line?… Red line…oh God, tell me you didn't…" Marilyn threw her arm over her eyes in exasperation as what Rick said finally sank in. "Red Line…Reddlin…really?"
"She had me off guard. I didn't know what to do. I sat down next to her on the train. We talked about history and found out we shared a love for it. It had been her second major, and I told her I was an archeologist who was working for the Smithsonian. I came up with the name Richard and struggled to find a last name. I looked up to see the 'Redline' Map and…well…it just sort of happened."
Rolling over onto her back, Marilyn stared up at the twinkling fiber-optic lights in the ceiling that looked like millions of stars shining down on her. She threw her arm over her forehead taking in the news of finding her sire. Who and what was he? If she was this shape-shifting creature she couldn't be human, which meant neither was he.
"What am I?" she asked.
"I'm not sure." He grimaced.
"Great." Sarcasm dripped like honey from her mouth. "In the meantime my insides are going crazy, my head is overloaded with morphing creatures…"
"What creatures do you see?"
"Of course there is the wolf, an auburn haired wolf if that makes sense."
"When you morph it's usually in your true colors. You have your mother's natural auburn hair. So you've experienced your wolf?"
"Yes. And a bobcat…and of course the dragon…God! Was that really me?" She exhaled in distress.
"It was you. But I can't tell you why."
"Well if you can't, you better find someone who can because I'm going bat-shit crazy."
"Now that you mention it, there just might be someone who can help you. She knows a lot about 'bat-shit.'"
Nonni walked in and sat down across from her. Rick…Richard…her father, had left them alone. It was probably for the best. She had a feeling Nonni knew a hell of a lot more than even Rick Delvante. And Marilyn wanted all the answers now.
"So you have come full circle." Nonni gave a toothless grin.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Do you not understand what you are?" She scoffed.
"I'm Zmei…but how?"
"The gods foretold—"
"Cut the crap with 'the gods foretold.' I've had it up to my gills, feathers, fur…whatever I possess with stories of the gods. Just give it to me straight."
"You mock?"
"Damn right I mock. This is the twenty-first century. If there is a curse let me have it, if the gods are going to strike me down, let them. I'm tired of the folklore and fables. This is real life now, so just tell me the facts. I think I've put up with enough bullshit to be given the facts without all the fiction."
"Well, you've definitely moved on from being the meek little mouse I knew. It's about time. If you don't want the nonsense, I won't give it to you." Nonni sighed.
"Zamolxis told us there would come a time when the DNA of the Zmei would once again merge with that of the Dacians. That time has come."
"I'm both parts?"
"Yes. But there is more to your chemical make-up…and I am the cause of it."
Marilyn's eyes widened, and her head dipped to study the wrinkled old woman. "How so?"
"I carried the blood of the last ruling Zmeu," she said boldly. "I was known as Sariana. I was chosen to be given in marriage to the Zmei, but I'd already betrayed my people by falling in love with another. Still, I wasn't given a choice and was forced to wed the son of a Zmei leader."
"Aiden Vamier, he was the one you'd fallen in love with."
"It was a long time ago."
"Heck, if he looked anything like he does now—not a bad choice. But really? He's evil incarnate."
"He wasn't then, not at first." She sighed. "I didn't see him again for nearly two years. In that time I had fallen in love with Drakon."
"Drakon? Let me guess, Draylon's brother?"
"No. Drakon was the future Zmei leader, Draylon only good friend and warrior." Nonni sat forward and glared at her. "So you know Draylon is Zmei?"
Marilyn shrugged. "It came to me in a dream."
"Yes. I fell in love with Drakon. I was pregnant when Aiden and his warriors came and attacked. Drakon tried to save me. I watched as Aiden personally killed him. I ran, but Draylon ordered me to stay with him, and he morphed into his human form to help me escape. One of Aiden's warriors saw him with me and sliced him across his chest. I thought he was dead until I saw him at Zamolxis' hut being nursed back to health by Rick."
"But Rick didn't want anything to do with you. He felt you were the cause of the Great Divide."
"I was banished from Dacia. To this day Rick believes I'm the one who led the Romans here to conquer us."
"Were y
ou?"
"No. The Dacians created their own demise. The clans were in an upheaval with no leader, no order and learning to adapt to their new image. It was a time easy enough for the Romans to come in and take over. Only a few managed to escape under the leadership of the young prophet and that is when Zamolxis created this haven for them in the time rip."
"What happened to you and the baby? Did you manage to escape?"
"I did. I found my way into what is now Bulgaria. I learned to accept their ways and settled in raising my child. From then on, the generations of Zmei blood line depleted but with the right combination and timing they would combine again."
It all made sense now. "My mother, she's the missing blood line and my father, Rick…he's the Dacian link."
Nonni nodded. "You are the offspring of the true clans."
Marilyn breathed heavily. She couldn't deny the story, the scientific or the paranormal. She'd witnessed both. But what were the odds that her parents would have met at the right time and place?
"The goddess of fate has much to do with timing. Do not discount the power or her knowledge. She controls every step we make," Nonni informed.
There was more that Marilyn could see in Nonni but couldn't put her finger on it. "I hope you don't mind me saying so, Nonni, but I sense you are not all that you appear to be."
The old woman looked up at her, the twinkle in her eye belying her true age. "You are wise beyond your years, Marilyn my dear."
Marilyn couldn't help but fight back a grin. "Just how powerful are you?"
Nonni looked around conspiratorially and leaned forward. "Stick around and you'll find out." She winked. "Now go off with you. Do what you need to do."
"Seriously?"
"Without this step that you make—none of anything else will matter. You are the key to what happens next."
Draylon latched his belt buckle and stood, looking at himself in the mirror. He was whole again. A few hours of recovery from pure hell and he was as good as new. If only his mental state felt the same way. He hadn't heard from Rick. He wondered where his friend was. It wasn't like him not to be a hundred percent involved with his well-being. Maybe it was the difference he'd begun to see lately. Maybe Rick was going through a mid-eternity crisis.